Regarding dental hygiene, it has been found desirable to remove residual food particles and plaque ingrained between the teeth and under the gums. In fact, irritation occurs when food and plaque are left to remain between the teeth. This leads to tooth decay and periodontitis. Moderate to severe periodontitis will cause recession of gums, mobility of teeth, and even tooth loss. Teeth must be brushed and adjacent soft tissue massaged in order to maintain oral health.
A biomechanical problem exists with toothbrushing. There is a fine line between one keeping teeth adequately clean and one being overzealous and causing tooth abrasion and gingival recession from overbrushing. Harmful stress to oral tissues can be caused by a toothbrush on gingival tissue when an individual tries to reach deeper inaccessible areas between the teeth.
A normal toothbrush is effective for cleaning areas of the teeth exposed to the brush, but the professionals are in agreement that the bristles can not reach into deeper areas between the teeth. A favorable way to clean this interdental area is to use a length of string, commonly called dental floss. The intended motion of such floss is to have it seesaw through the contacts and be directed gently into the sulcus. It is then curved around the teeth, and then lifted in the incisal direction while putting force toward the tooth surface being cleaned.
To floss the entire dentition is time consuming. To accomplish this feat for all the teeth is very difficult. The back teeth must be done blindly, and many people don't have the dexterity to accomplish the task.
The interdental area is also maintained by interproximal brushes. However, in a normal and healthy interdental area the space between the teeth is consumed by the dental papilla and this precludes the use of a small brush. The interdental brush is generally recommended by dentists to the older population.
Tooth picks and Johnson and Johnson's Stimudents are utilized to remove accessible plaque. However, they are too bulky to be placed into the delicate interdental sulcular area.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,824 Thornton reveals a type of interdental massager that is an efficient type of dental floss. Difficulty arises when it is snapped through a tight contact. It is also arduous to clean an entire mouth at one time.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,849 Cereo et al. disclose a type of dental tape or floss with rows of protuberances. This gingival stimulator suffers from inefficiency. It is very time consuming to place this type of device between each dental contact. Compliance on a regular basis could only be done by a very dedicated individual.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,136 Nakao et al. invents a massaging device with small rows of fibers wrapped in a sheath. The shape of this stimulator is somewhat converging and it is this converging shape itself that makes for an inefficient design for entering into the sulcular area.